Earthquakes increasing across North America

January 2015 – TEXAS – More earthquakes strike north Texas shaking going on. The U.S. Geological Survey has confirmed a Thursday afternoon temblor near Midlothian. The quake measured a 2.7 magnitude. There are reports of the movement also being felt in Mansfield. The earthquake, that happened at 2:12 in the afternoon, measured at a depth of five kilometers. There are no reports of damage. Minutes after confirming the afternoon Ellis County quake, the USGS released information about two additional tremors that happened earlier in Irving. The first quake was a 1.9 occurring at 4:08 a.m. The second Thursday tremor in Irving happened at 7:24 a.m. and also had a magnitude of 1.9.

The earthquake happened just one day after a cluster of a dozen small earthquakes rattled parts of North Texas — most centered in the city of Irving near the site of the old Texas Stadium. The site of the old stadium is directly over the Balcones Fault, which runs from Irving to San Antonio, almost parallel to Interstate-35. North Lake College geology professor Dr. Len Kubicek explained Wednesday that natural forces are tugging on the fault from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. “If you start pulling on this and stretching it, in this case you’re going to get two normal faults,” he said, using wooden blocks to demonstrate the action. “The Balcones Fault was actually one of these, that type of fault, and it’s due to stretching.” The strongest Irving earthquake was a 3.6 in magnitude that happened early Tuesday evening. According to scientists with Southern Methodist University, Irving has had more than 25 minor earthquakes since early September 2014. –CBS

Connecticut – LAINFIELD — At first, town officials didn’t have an answer. More than 50 people had called the police shortly after 9:30 a.m. Thursday to report a boom and a shake. The town fire marshal’s office had ruled out blasting as the cause, and there were no crashes on nearby I-395. Neither was there any work being done on the Providence and Worcester railroads. So they called the National Weather Service. An earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 2.0 to 2.2, had occurred in the northern part of town, about 2 miles south of Danielson, they learned. It was nearly 6 kilometers underground and caused no damage.

Earthquakes happen fairly regularly in Connecticut, but they rarely amount to more than a murmur. For centuries, the residents of the Moodus section of East Haddam have heard the rumblings of earthquakes in the area. The Plainfield area, where Thursday morning’s temblor struck, has now experienced four small earthquakes since October, according to data collected by the Weston Observatory at Boston College. The number of quakes has increased across the New England area over the last 10 years — part of a natural geologic process, said John E. Ebel, the chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College. “From the late 1970s into the early 1990s, it was much more active,” he said. “Then things dropped off. In the early 2000s, the activity got very low throughout New England. And it seems to have come back since then.” –Courant

Oklahoma – The U.S. Geological Survey recorded several Oklahoma earthquakes today, including a 4.0 magnitude quake near Cushing. The 4.0 quake recorded 11:51 a.m. about 3 miles south-southwest of Cushing. Earlier today, a 2.4 magnitude quake recorded 3 a.m. about 3 miles north-northeast of Cherokee, and a 3.0 magnitude quake recorded 7:03 a.m. about 12 miles east of Perry.

During the past seven days, the USGS recorded 22 Oklahoma earthquakes. During the past 30 days, the USGS recorded 121 Oklahoma earthquakes of at least 2.5 magnitude. The largest during that timeframe was a 4.1 magnitude quake Sept. 29 near Perry, according to the USGS. On January 9^th,  3.5 and 3.4 magnitude earthquakes struck new Pawnee and Guthrie, Oklahoma. –Tulsa World

Vancouver Island – There are conflicting reports about whether or not an earthquake earlier this week cooled the thermal waters at hot springs north of Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. After the 4.8 magnitude quake hit 18 kilometers east-northeast of Tofino on Wednesday, no damage was reported to buildings. Then on Friday, people living near Hot Springs Cove at the north end of Clayoquot Sound told CBC News the temperature of the water in the thermal springs had dropped significantly. Bernard Charleson said when he put his hand over the hot springs source earlier this week  the water was cool — and the sulphur smell was gone. Charleson, who is a Hesquiaht First Nation emergency coordinator, blamed the change on Wednesday’s earthquake. –CBC